In The Wild
Jun 16, 2019

The quest for the perfect family photo drives parents to tears and kids to tantrums.

So this Father's Day, we say embrace the chaos and see the perfection in all the imperfect, candid moments. The following are some tips and tricks from GoPro founder and patriarch Nick Woodman, who has three amazing boys of his own.

Tip #1: Play at their level

Parents often take photos or video from up high, shooting down, which means you see a lot of tops of kids' heads and miss all the good stuff. You can crouch, crawl, kneel, lay or sit … just get down on the ground, shoot at the child's eye-level, and you'll get the magic you're hoping for.

Tip #2: Do what THEY want to do

Instead of trying to get kids to pose or play-act for the photo you want, set them free to do whatever activity they have in mind, from tag and hide and seek to imaginary battles on the jungle gym. Participate with them, and you'll capture the true joy of your child at play.

Tip #3: Skip the Selfie

To capture authentic moments, get creative with the placement of your camera. The compact GoPro is small but mighty and can go anywhere, including underwater. Mount it to a rung of the monkey bars, on the handlebar of a trike, bike or scooter, or throw it in the bathtub or your pool. Whatever you can dream up, the GoPro can do it, and you'll get unique photos and videos and authentic moments as a result.

Tip #4: Hand them the camera

This might be a scary prospect with your iPhone or DSLR, but GoPro's were literally built for this stuff. Hand your kid the camera and let them run, play and shoot what they think is interesting. You'll love seeing the world from their perspective and are guaranteed to get a few candid moments to cherish.

Tip #5: Less is more

You know what your parents/friends/mailman/grocery cashier wants to see of your kid's birthday party/family vacation/school recital? A SHORT video that is cute and fast and quick and short.

'The biggest mistake I see parents make is taking long videos of a moment - kids opening all their Christmas presents or an entire birthday party. But all you really need to create a cute, shareable video is ten seconds here and there,' Nick says.

Use the GoPro app with QuickStories to automatically create a video for you with music, transitions, filters and more, that people will actually want to watch (even you, even for the fiftieth time!). Check out GoPro Family member and super-dad Aaron Diaz's QuikStory with his fam above.

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Disclaimer

GoPro Inc. published this content on 16 June 2019 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 16 June 2019 14:28:00 UTC